The Rays are prepared to go with the slick-fielding Reid Brignac at shortstop next season and dealt from their surplus of middle infielders in order to tidy up a bullpen that had been ravaged by free agent departures.

Bartlett, 31, posted a poor .254/.324/.350 batting line this past season and probably won’t make much of an improvement while playing half of his games at the massive PETCO Park. But he’s an upgrade over what the Padres trotted out in 2010 and he did register an 879 OPS in 2009 — just one year ago.

Ramos, 26, posted a 3.28 ERA and 1.39 WHIP in 96 innings this year at Triple-A. He has some starting experience but will almost certainly be used as a reliever in Tampa. Russell, 27, registered a 1.21 WHIP over 12 relief appearances in 2010.

Think you mean an upgrade over trotted out 2010. Interesting to see what these Padre pitchers do outside the cozy confines, don’t know the splits on these two although they were commendable not jewels by any means.

That’s still better than us M’s up north, your inter-league “rivals”. We simply need a C, a 2B, a LF, and a middle of the rotation starter. Oh, and since we just signed Jack Cust (and have um, um, Milton Bradley) we STILL need a DH!

I know I have been in denial for the past 2 weeks about all of the changes Friedman and Sternberg promised were coming our way this offseason, but today is a tough day to be a Rays fan. Good thing all of our young stars show such promise!

bartlett may be a fan favorite but since he hurt his knee this past season he wasn’t the same in the field, brignac had noticeably more range, which is what bartlett was supposed to provide to begin with.

For the padres though, they get a sure handed, above average arm shortstop who can work a count, leadoff, bat ninth, bunt, whatever. he should thrive in the National League.